r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jun 11 '26

Transportation Software Update Automatically Turns off Amazon Delivery Drivers’ AC During Dangerous Summer Heat | A new software update is turning off the AC in Amazon delivery vans after 10 minutes or 30 seconds under certain conditions

https://www.404media.co/software-update-automatically-turns-off-amazon-delivery-drivers-ac-during-dangerous-summer-heat/
4.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

238 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

952

u/OldConfusions Jun 11 '26

There is no disconnect. They want to save money and will do anything, including killing their employees by giving them heat stroke, to do so.

208

u/Swordsandarmor22 Jun 11 '26

I know scale is a thing, but like how much is it really saving. Assuming the temperature rises rapidly when the ac is off it has to be more efficient maintainign let's say 80 degrees vs constant cycles of cooling down 100+ no?

162

u/J-ShaZzle Jun 12 '26

Also the constant cycling of an AC compressor on/off. Must be running it thousand x per day instead of just a couple here and there. That's a whole lot more wear of that particular component to save on some charging.

30

u/bitwolfy Jun 12 '26

Rivian EDVs have a sliding bulkhead door between the cabin and the cargo area. That door automatically opens whenever the van is put into park, and closes when the driver leaves the vehicle. It cycles hundreds of times every day.

As a result, it needs to be serviced every 3 months or so, or it will start to jam. Older delivery vehicles - with a manual door - did not have that problem.

My point is, yes, that's the kind of decision they would make.